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This paper studies the female imagery in Li yu’s Twelve Structures (≪十二樓≫) and analyzes Li yu’s views of womanhood expressed in his classic collection of stories. The ancient Chinese literati held that a man under the influence of wine or women should not be judged. This implied women were less than fully human, with their own thoughts and needs, but were rather like wine, a source of pleasure. In keeping with the era, Li yu’s Twelve Structures pays no heed to female autonomy or character except for Lady Shu’s(舒娘子) in ‘Fengxian Structure’(＜奉先樓＞). In general, women are seen like toys to give, sell or play with. Some might be clever, beautiful, or special somehow, yet dutiful treatment, such as faithfulness to them, was simply not their due. Li yu’s depictions of womanhood vary somewhat by class. His writing on underclass women is full of jokes and shows them like chess pieces in games men play. He writes with less frivolity and more reserve about higher class and noble-women. As a working writer, Liyu had to consider what would sell. Most of his stories thus feel fresh and novel. Only in Fengxian Structure, is his tone grave and sober. Lady Shu is, of course, a highly respectable woman. Li yu’s basic low evaluation of women was common and acceptable among late Ming and Early Qing Dynasty Period literary men. His book still reveals some realistic aspects of women’s lives in that time.
